Oscars nominations 2014: Gravity and American Hustle gain 10 each

American Hustle becomes a surprise major contender in the Oscars race, while
Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom received just one nomination

Oscar Nominations- Best Picture: (Top row) American Hustle, Nebraska, and Captain Phillips, (Middle row) Philomena, Dallas Buyers Club and 12 Years a Slave, (Bottom row) Gravity, The Wolf of Wall Street and Her

American Hustle has gone from being an Oscars race outsider to receiving 10 nominations in the 2014 Academy Awards, matching the total racked up by space blockbuster Gravity.

The Best Picture nominee stars British actor Christian Bale and Amy Adams, both nominated in the Best Actor and Best Actress category, alongside Jennifer Lawrence, who could win her second Oscar this year for Best Supporting Actress, and Bradley Cooper, nominated in the Best Supporting Actor category. American Hustle director, David O Russell, is nominated for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay alongside Eric Warren Singer.

Gravity, also in the Best Picture category, has collected three nominations in the six major categories, with Alfonso Cuarón nominated for Best Director and Sandra Bullock as Best Actress. Its remaining seven nominations are for Cinematography, Film Editing, Music, Production Design, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing and Visual Effects, recognising the film's spectacular recreation of life in space.

Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, initially expected to receive some Academy recognition, has been nominated in just one category: Best Original Song for 'Ordinary Love' by Paul Hewson.

British stars were well represented in the nominations, with Dame Judi Dench picking up Best Actress nod for her performance in Philomena - which could lead to her first Best Actress win - and Sally Hawkins as Best Supporting Actress in Blue Jasmine.

Dench commented: "This is just the loveliest news. I'm so happy for everybody involved, and so proud to have been part of the wonderful experience that Philomena has been." The film has been nominated in four categories.

Woody Allen was nominated in the Best Original Screenplay category for Blue Jasmine, while British comedian Steve Coogan could win an Oscar with Jeff Pope for their adaptation of Philomena for the big screen.

British Turner Prize-winning director, Steve McQueen, has also been recognised for 12 Years A Slave, for which Chiwetel Ejiofor has been nominated as Best Actor. The British star lost out in the Best Actor category at Sunday's Golden Globes. Ejiofor's Kenyan co-star Lupita Nyong'o has been nominated alongside Hawkins and Lawrence in the Best Supporting Actress category and Michael Fassbender has been recognised in the Best Supporting Actor category.

12 Years A Slave's other four nominations are for Costume Design, Film Editing, Production Design and Writing. The film has been backed by Film4, and Tessa Ross, Controller of Film and Drama at the channel said "Steve is already acclaimed as one of the worlds’ leading contemporary visual artists and is now being recognised as a truly visionary feature film-maker on the international stage. It's also wonderful to see such a range of British talent being recognised in today's nominations."